


Stop Clowning Around

by BoydTheReaver



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: #FutabaNeedsAHug, Alternate Protagonist Names, Canon-Typical Violence, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sad, Shinobu Hattori, coulrophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 06:30:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13405443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoydTheReaver/pseuds/BoydTheReaver
Summary: When a new Shadow evocative of Futaba’s worst fears emerges, the Phantom Thieves’ trip through Mementos quickly gets complicated.





	Stop Clowning Around

**Author's Note:**

> A discussion into phobias today and a reminder of Don’t Laugh at Me convinced me to do _something_ of the sort with this kinda fanfic, so I did. Futaba is honestly my precious little sugar-muffin, and though it hurts me to the very core watching her suffer, I still want to get the plot bunnies outta my head… sorry, Best Girl. =(
> 
> Either way, enjoy. I know I’ll certainly feel bad through putting the precious widdle hacker through hell.

There was something about Shinobu and Futaba’s romantic relationship that seemed to inspire the best in both adolescents. When they weren’t playfully bantering off each other and _especially_ when they weren’t fighting for their lives in the dark corridors of Mementos, they were deeply and hopelessly in love with each other. It wasn’t hard to see why, either: Shinobu inspires a type of confidence and self-esteem that would otherwise be missing without her Kage in her life, and Shinobu likewise seems to be at ease whenever he has the precarious hacker by his side – something that proved extremely useful due to the stressful role as the Phantom Thieves’ leader. Much like the union on Ann/Shiho and Haru/Makoto before them, Shinobu and Futaba’s romantic epiphany brought the best out of each other, just as all romantic relationships should.

Their presence was even felt in Mementos, much to the Phantom Thieves mild annoyance. Shinobu constantly giving compliments and praise to his girlfriend never stopped making the red-headed hacker turn as flushed as her hair, and there was undoubtedly something that helped the 15-year old girl brace the terrifying depths of Mementos together. Not as though she hasn’t seen some shit: dealing with the representations of gods, demons and all other supernatural hijinks would be terrifying if she wasn’t so used to it. And with a loving boyfriend helping her along the way, it appears there wasn’t anything that could feasibly terrify her into submission.

Well, _almost._

“Yo Joker, there’s a red Shadow up ahead,” Morgana noted in his car form. “Ready to get it outta our way?”

“You sure about this?” Makoto sniffed, nonetheless using one hand to curl at her brass knuckles and the other to hold hands with Haru, her girlfriend. “From what my Phantom Senses’ been telling me, this guy looks tough.”

“Eh, shouldn’t be anything we can’t handle!” Ryuji gave a cheeky smile as he rested his bludgeon in his hand. “After all, we gotta show the new recruit how it’s done, eh Noir?”

“Oh! Um, well…” Haru blushed a bit; she was indeed quite a fresh addition to the team. “Y-Yes, that would be nice. But I can assure you me and Milady will decimate all opposition!”

There was something about that precariously-adorable statement that make Makoto boast an uncharacteristically goofy grin. It was wiped just as quickly off of her face as it came on when the car slammed into the Shadow, making Morgana switch back into its felinoid form.

 _“We’ve got contact!”_ Futaba cried, standing behind the battle-ready Phantom Thieves. _“Be careful, this is a tough Shadow, and – ah!”_

The veterancy in Futaba’s voice almost immediately evaporated once the red Shadow took form, and it instantly was replaced by a mix of a pathetic whimper and a dreading squeal. Fear was almost instantly locked onto her face, her eyes going wide with brimming tears and agape mouth as a demonic, carnival-based _hellspawn_ with a squeaky red nose and some razor-sharp claws in his hand stared at the poor girl, and with its cartoonish-shaped shark-like teeth, gave a terrifying, sadistic _grin._

Futaba then proceeded to _scream._

The Shadows certainly let loose some terrified cries as they died painfully, and Shinobu had his fair share of nightmares from the anguished death rows of teammates before thankfully being brought back thanks to revival magic. It’s all terrifying to see somebody die while screaming, or scream in terror in _general,_ but Shinobu could manage it most of the time. Not this, though; Futaba’s screech of terror was _feral,_ and a small, unconcerned-for-his-girlfriend part of his brain wondered how Futaba could scream that loud without cracking her voice. But that was a small part of his brain as he immediately directed to the fact that Futaba ran of squealing and sobbing, her voice choked with streaming tears as she ran away in fear.

“What the – _ah!”_ Shinobu broke his suave “Joker” façade as an expression of genuine fear came to him. _“Futaba, get back here – “_

_“JOKER, LOOK OUT!”_

Shinobu barely had enough time to react to the demonic clown raising its claws and nearly severing Shinobu’s body, to which the delinquent-turned-Phantom Thief barely had enough time to avoid. Shinobu’s eyes widened under his mask as he had a clear glimpse at the _hellish_ pupils underneath this inhuman fiend’s eyes, one that _screamed_ of a sort of “I-am-going-to-eat-you-in-front-of-your-friends” sort of vibe of pure sadism and misanthropy. Joker had to choke down a cry himself, but his composure rebounded just in time.

 _“Oh, fuck me!”_ Ryuji cursed to nobody in particular. _“Seiten Taisei! TEAR ‘EM APART!”_

Seiten Taisei aimed its baton over the demonic clown while Yusuke – who was silent for most of the chaos until now – unloaded a clip of bullets into the demonic clown. Both immediately shot back to both teenaged boys, emitting a gasp for air as pain and a punishing force enveloped their bodies.

 _“Gyaah…! Blast!”_ Yusuke cried out in his archaic mannerisms. _“It seems to reflect Physical and Gun attacks! I urge all of you to be on guard!”_

“N-No need to tell me twice…!” Despite Makoto’s hateful glare, she herself looked unnerved by the clown; nowhere _near_ as bad as Futaba screaming and running off in panic, but the pricks of fearful tears were apparent underneath her iron mask. She seemed relaxed for a moment when Haru squeezed her hand, seemingly unfazed by the clown.

 _“Everyone, I urge you to be brave and confront this monstrosity with all you have!”_ Haru encouraged her fellow – and equally-terrified – Phantom Thieves. _“COME FORTH, MILADY!”_

 _“D-Don’t count me out, Noir! I just want this f-fucking thing to die!”_ Despite trembling in fear, Makoto nonetheless breathed in and summed her own Persona. _“C’mon Anat!”_

The battle presumed onwards. Ann would learn the hard way how fire attacks _healed_ this ungodly monstrosity, while nuclear, ice and thunder attacks did negligible damage at best or nothing at all at worst, the latter case belonging to nuclear spells. Ann made her frustration readily apparent.

 _“Ugh, this bastard is freaking me the hell out!”_ Ann’s voice was elevated even by her standards, which isn’t hard to blame given the pure nightmare fuel in front of them. _“Why won’t anything hurt it?!”_

“I’ll see if I can’t help, Panther!” Haru gripped at her mask before tearing it off in a blue light. _“Milady! PSIODYNE!”_

That seemed to be the ticket needed to victory. The clown abomination’s cocksure grin evaporated as it felt a psychic force wrack its brain, knocking it on its feet as it screeched of pain. Haru gave a ladylike – yet no less relieved smile – at this discovery.

 _“Everyone! This night-terror is apparently weak to Psy!”_ Haru hollered. _“Joker, do you have a Psy demon?!”_

“Good thing you asked, Noir; how ironic that a teddy bear undoes the horror.” Despite his suavity, Shinobu was incredibly relieved that this freak of nature had _some_ weakness; the discovery gave enough relief that he was back to being confident again. _“Bugs! Ravish them!”_

Indeed: with a certain slightly-terrifying yet strangely-adorable teddy bear recently added to his stock, coupled with Milady’s psionic might, the Clown quickly proved defeated – it was a rare encounter, but nothing like Palace Owner Shadows or what-not. Finally relieved that the abomination evaporated into darkness, all adolescents present breathed a sigh of relief.

 _“Whew… I can’t believe that’s over with…”_ Ann shuddered, legs shaking. _“And Shiho’s gonna wonder why I’ll be having nightmares for weeks!”_

Makoto was less diligent in maintaining her “Ms. Post-Apocalyptic Biker” façade as she broke down into cute sniffles and sobs. _“Th-That was so scary…!”_ She promptly cried into Haru’s chest, to which the heiress comforted the poor girl by telling how brave and strong she was.

“If I were being truthful, I didn’t find the abomination all too scary,” Yusuke mused, mostly unfazed from the encounter. “Sure, the battle _was_ adrenaline-inducing, but I’m more concerned with that _terrible_ fashion sense…”

“Wha – okay, _what the fuck Inari?!”_ Ryuji was trembling just like Ann. _“HOW THE HELL WERE YOU SO CALM DURNG ALL THAT?!”_

Yusuke shrugged. “Browsing the web for artistic references makes you numb to whatever horrors you find.”

Shinobu was just about to congratulate the team for being so brave against that monstrosity, but he immediately blanched as he called out a certain name.  _“OH, SHIT! FUTABA!”_

The party’s celebration went stone cold upon remembering a certain hacker running off screaming. Ann made her exasperation apparent. “Oh, crap you’re right!” C’mon Mona; get in your car form and we’ll drive around to see where – “

_“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, noscarymonstersaround, noscarymonstersaround, noscarymonstersaround, noscarymonstersaround, NOSCARYMONSTERSAROUND…!”_

Ann simply shook her head as the feline trembled behind a wall, mewling incoherently as he was during the entire battle. Shinobu facepalmed at the sight of it all.

“Damn cat…” Shinobu sighed, completely annoyed. “Can _somebody_ get him out of his state? _Anyone?!”_

* * *

“…Futaba?”

“…”

The party didn’t exactly take too long in finding the red-head hacker in some dark corner of Mementos, trapped in a fetal position as her face was completely _soaked_ with tears. Futaba’s been crying for god knows how long, now completely dry of any tears she had left in her system: all she could manage was small hiccups as he maintained her fetal position. Shinobu thanked his lucky stars that no Shadows found her all around here, or she would’ve been in grave danger.

Alas, Ryuji’s unusually softly-spoken attempt to converse with the poor girl has proven unsuccessful. “Uh, Joker, I _really_ don’t know how to proceed. Maybe you can, since you’re his girlfriend and all, and…?”

Shinobu sighed. “…I know.” He took a moment to slowly approach the weeping girl, kneeling down to meet Futaba at equal eye level.

“Hey, um… Futaba.” Shinobu muttered. “You… going to be okay? Futaba? Oracle?”

No response.

The delinquent shook his head. “Futaba, if you can hear me, can you _please_ let us – “

“…coward.”

“…huh?” Ann made her surprise apparent as Futaba muttered so softly, even a whisper would be louder. The partially-white student grimaced as her good ears picked up on Futaba’s choice of words, but the rest of the party didn’t hear her.

“Um…” Shinobu stumbled. “I-I’m sorry, what…?”

Silence again. Futaba finally spoke after a good minute.

“…c-coward.” Futaba bared her teeth as she wept bitterly. “I-I’m such a coward… I couldn’t even maintain my composure when I saw that… that _thing…_ and ran away while I left you all to fight it. I’m the same person who can’t even confront…” At this point, Futaba hiccupped bitterly as she felt the tears pool. “…wh-who c-can’t even help _HERSELF_ when she’s depressed…!”

Futaba began crying again, her throat raw from all the screaming and sobbing. Makoto bit her lip quietly, for as somebody who was scared herself, understood her own anxiety. She was the first to step up for Futaba.

“Listen Futaba, nobody’s blaming you for running off like that,” Makoto’s voice was unusually soft, but cautious in how she chose her words. “We haven’t had an idea that you’re afraid of… of well…”

Futaba sniffled a bit. “…c-clowns?”

“Err… y-yeah, that.” Makoto shook her head, blushing a bit as she felt Futaba use her choice of words so quickly. She almost didn’t know what to say until Shinobu quietly approached his girlfriend and gave her a tender hug, lifting her up on her feet yet letting her rest on their leader’s chest.

“Hey, listen… it’s okay, Futaba. Really.” Shinobu’s voice, too, was soft and quiet. “You’re safe now. Nobody’s going to hurt you anymore, you got that?”

“K-Kage, I…” Futaba didn’t even have anything left in her to break down sobbing properly. She just wept bitterly, yet clinging to Shinobu’s waist with a strength she scarcely knew she possessed. Shinobu was tender in caressing the back of his girlfriend’s head.

“Yeah… hey, uh, there really hasn’t been anything said that I can say better but… we’re all here for you, Futaba.” Ryuji gave a warm grin. “We may be a bunch of rag-tag thieves, but we look after our own.”

A moment passed as Futaba continued weeping into Shinobu’s chest. After a dark silence passed, Futaba looked up at her boyfriend – she was a _mess._ Her face was dried with tears, her hair was all over the place, and her eyes were clearly bloodshot with her goggles resting on her forehead. She merely sniffled lightly as she shook her head.

“T-Thank you all so much…” Futaba squeaked softly, still crying a bit. “Y-You’re all so nice to me…”

“Hey, I may have not been much help in fighting that clown off…” Morgana scratched the back of his furry head awkwardly, and gave a sheepish laugh. “But… we’re all here for you, Oracle. Nobody has to do this alone, okay?”

“Y-Yeah… th-thanks, guys…” Futaba sniffled. She felt Ann give her a light pat on the back.

“Hey, if it’s any small comfort, Shiho was a bit of a mess after, well… y’know.” Ann’s expression darkened before she gave a warm smile. “But she had everybody supporting her through those hard times, just like we’re all here for you.”

“Y-Yeah… I get that now…” Futaba gave her first tried-and-true smile after encountering the clown, before blushing in that moment.

“U-Um… I, uh…” Futaba squeaked. “I-Is it okay if I tell you how I became afraid of clowns? I-If so, do you promise not to laugh…?”

“Futaba, in all honesty, why would we _ever_ do that to a friend?” Yusuke smiled sincerely. “You can tell us truthfully.”

“O-Okay… w-well, uh…” Futaba blushed, clenching her fists. “H-Has anybody here played Dead Rising 1 before? Has anybody encountered Adam MacIntyre and, uh… saw his death scene?”

As the rest of the Thieves looked confused, Shinobu and Ryuji – the two avid gamers of the male Thieves – winced instinctively. Ryuji was the first to ask.

“Um…” Ryuji awkwardly phrased himself. “H-How old were you when you saw that scene…?”

Futaba blushed. “…s-six.”

Six. Dead Rising was released on the Xbox 360 in 2006, and she saw it when she was in 2007 – the dates matched up, and Shinobu couldn’t help but feel terrible for her. Even though Shinobu pulled her girlfriend into another tender hug, the non-gamer members of the Thieves looked confused.

“I-I’m sorry for asking something potentially insensitive…” Haru muttered to herself, audible enough to pose her question. “But may somebody show me this “Adam MacIntyre” death scene from this “Dead Rising” game sometime?”

“Uhhh, I wouldn’t if I were you.” Ryuji grinned sheepishly. “But I can, well… supply you all a link when I get the chance.”

As the rest of the party felt lightened in their spirits, Futaba looked at her boyfriend and blushed awkwardly.

“K-Kage… can we go home?” Futaba, despite now smiling, looked rather humiliated. “Today’s kinda been a bad day for me…”

Shinobu giving a light peck to her girlfriend’s forehead lit up her spirits – and her cheeks – like a Christmas tree. “Hey, don’t worry, I understand. Let’s all head back.”

Shinobu held hands with Futaba the whole way back. When Futaba nervously admitted she needed a safety blanket when going to bed tonight, Shinobu – and a reluctant Sojiro – was more than happy to oblige.

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> In case anybody is wondering, I was imagining the clown Shadow to be It from, well… It. Yeah, God help Futaba’s dreams from this point onwards.
> 
> Thanks for reading this! Be sure to leave a Kudos and Comment! ;)


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